Armstrong Must Confess Under Oath to Reduce Lifetime Sports Ban

Lance Armstrong has no chance of
competing again in sports if he doesn’t divulge every detail of
his performance-enhancing drug use, the head of the World Anti-
Doping Agency said.

“Only when Mr. Armstrong makes a full confession under
oath -- and tells the anti-doping authorities all he knows about
doping activities -- can any legal and proper process for him to
seek any reopening or reconsideration of his lifetime ban
commence,” WADA Director General David Howman said in a
statement on the anti-doping body’s website last night.

Armstrong two days ago acknowledged using drugs during his
cycling career, reversing 13 years of denials by the record
seven-time Tour de France champion and cancer survivor who was
one of the world’s most revered athletes.

Already stripped of his titles, barred from Olympic sports
for life and abandoned by longtime sponsors such as Nike Inc. (NKE),
Oakley Inc. and Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (ABI), Armstrong publicly
acknowledged doping for the first time in a 2 1/2-hour interview
with Oprah Winfrey, the talk-show host said yesterday on “CBS
This Morning.”

Winfrey didn’t provide details of the interview, which will
air on the Oprah Winfrey Network tomorrow and Jan. 18. Tim Herman, Armstrong’s lawyer, declined to comment on Winfrey’s
statements in an e-mail.

Doping Testimony

Armstrong, a 41-year-old American, may testify against
cycling officials and others who helped him cheat and cover up
doping at the U.S. Postal Service team, the New York Times and
CBS News reported, citing unidentified people. That may be
another mistake, Rick Burton, the Falk Professor of Sports
Management at Syracuse University, said in a telephone
interview.

“If he wants to try and take other people down with him or
he’s trying to cut a deal with the cycling federation or
triathlon federation in order to get back in sports, I think
he’s going to get destroyed,” Burton said.

The International Cycling Union, or UCI, said it “would
strongly urge” Armstrong to testify to an independent committee
looking at the former rider’s relationship with the leadership
of cycling’s governing body. WADA and the U.S Anti-Doping
Agency, the overseer of U.S. drug rules, said in e-mails
yesterday that they won’t join in the UCI probe because the
cycling body’s refusal to offer amnesty to those who cooperate
puts the inquiry in jeopardy.

Verbal Attacks

Armstrong was accused by Colorado Springs, Colorado-based
USADA of doping throughout his career and of having teammates
fired if they didn’t also agree to cheat. Anyone who
subsequently accused him of wrongdoing was excoriated for
impugning him.

Former teammate Frankie Andreu and his wife, Betsy, who
testified that she heard Armstrong acknowledge doping while
undergoing cancer treatment in 1996, said the disgraced cyclist
has to repent for ruining other riders’ careers.

“He cheated, lied and defrauded a lot of people for a lot
of years,” Frankie Andreu told ESPN Radio. “He destroyed and
made life hell for a lot of people. Anybody who crossed his path
or didn’t go along with his plan, he set out to take them
down.”

Armstrong’s enmity will be difficult for him to recover
from, Greg Dale, a professor of sport psychology and sports
ethics at Duke University, said in a phone interview.

“Here’s a guy that really did some great things with his
ability to raise money and funding for cancer research, but
someone who not only was blatantly lying, but viciously attacked
and ruined the character of some people who were simply telling
the truth,” Dale said. “It’s going to be the most difficult
thing for people to accept.”

Financial Troubles

Armstrong’s finances are likely to take a hit along with
his reputation. Justice Department officials have recommended
the U.S. government join a whistle-blower lawsuit brought by
former teammate Floyd Landis that aims to get sponsorship money
back from Armstrong’s former team, CBS News said.

Armstrong also faces a potential $12 million claim from
Dallas-based SCA Promotions Inc., which agreed to pay $7.5
million in 2006 to settle a dispute over bonus payments to the
cyclist that were held up because of accusations of doping.

He also faces an attempt by the Sunday Times of London to
reclaim $1.5 million the newspaper paid to settle a libel case
after it printed part of a book that accused Armstrong of
doping.

CBS also reported that Armstrong is in talks to return a
portion of the millions of taxpayer dollars received by the U.S.
Postal team, without saying where it got that information.

Livestrong Apology

Following USADA’s report, Armstrong severed ties with
Livestrong, which made him perhaps the best-known public figure
in the fight against cancer. The largest athlete-founded charity
has raised more than $470 million since 1997, according to its
website.

Armstrong began the charity after being diagnosed in 1996
with stage three testicular cancer that spread to his lungs and
brain. He returned to the Tour de France as a champion in 1999,
winning the first of seven consecutive titles.

Before the interview with Winfrey at a hotel in downtown
Austin, Texas, Armstrong stopped at the Livestrong Foundation
and apologized to staff members for letting them down and
putting the charity at risk, the Associated Press said.

“It was absolutely the right thing to spend some private
time with them and be honest with them,” Ashley McCown, who
specializes in crisis communications as president of Boston-
based Solomon McCown & Co., said in a telephone interview.
“They didn’t deserve to be dragged into this.”